Ngakma Pema Zangmo

Biography

Ngakma Pema Rig’dzin Zangmo was ordained in 1993, together with her husband
Ngakpa ’ö-Nyi Dorje. Born in 1959—Wegburg Germany—she grew up
in various countries as her parents travelled throughout her childhood. Her love of
Vajrayana awareness-imagery began with her commitment to Vajrayana in
1976 – but at that time there were no readily accessible
teachers of thangka painting in the West. In 1989 she and her husband
met Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, and shortly afterwards became
apprenticee. In Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, she not only found her Root Lamas, but
also her thangka-painting teachers. Ngak’chang Rinpoche
and Khandro Déchen recognised her abilities and encouraged her to
devote her life to the depiction of the awareness-beings of the Nyingma
gTér

Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen recommended that Pema
Zangmo learn as much as she could with regard to thangka painting
– including learning from Tibetan painters expert in the
different styles. At the end of a pilgrimage to Ladakh, she went to
McLeod Ganj to continue her studies within the thangka painting school
of the Dala’i Lama. Since it is not customary for
Westerners—especially women—to study within the school,
she practiced her instruction outside, where she completed line
drawings constructed in the Gélug style. She learned painting
techniques, how to gesso a canvas, grind and mix stone paints –
and how to mix paint from gold. She visited several thangka painters
in the area and received advice and instruction. She is proficient in
the framing of thangkas with brocade in the traditional style.

Although she appreciated the traditional style of Tibetan thangka
painting, she found it disappointing that the vivid sexuality of the
yidam images was obscure – which is why working with
Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen is important to her. On
the advice of ’Khordong gTérchen Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin
Rinpoche, the Aro gTér yidam images are not constrained by celibate
aesthetics. As Khandro Déchen presents them, the yidams dance boldly
from the canvas with naked dignity.

Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen’s approach to
thangka painting is to be true to Vajrayana: to depict the yidams as
luminous light bodies, rather than using the more subdued colours of
the modern Eastern style. Like her Lamas, she desires to be
traditional with regard to Vajrayana rather than traditional according
to culture.

Pema Zangmo’s main practice is the depiction of
awareness-beings. This practice, which she maintains both in and out
of retreat, rests upon the concentrated recitation of mantra. She has made it her life commitment to help bring the Aro
gTér imagery into being, and does her utmost in encouraging anyone who
wishes to take part in this wonderful opportunity to make the Aro gTér
visible.